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Background

In August 2005, Randy M. Ataide became the third Director in the history of the Fermanian Business Center. In 2010, the Center was reorganized into the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute, and Ataide was named Executive Director. Ataide brings considerable business experience to the director position, having worked for more than 20 years as an entrepreneur in developing several inter-related diversified agricultural companies. He remains active in the business community through numerous boards and in strategic roles for both for-profit and non-profit companies, boards and organizations. He was named one of San Diego’s Most Influential Leaders in 2010 by the San Diego Daily Transcript.

Ataide holds a B.A. degree in Speech Communication from CSU Fresno, a Masters Degree in Theology from Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, and a Juris Doctor degree from San Joaquin College of Law, and he is a member of the California State Bar Association. He has also completed Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Executive Management Program and Harvard Business School’s Owner-President Management Program, where he was named his class commencement speaker in Spring 2006. As Executive Director of the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute, Ataide provides primary leadership for the strategic planning of the Center's mission. In addition to his duties as the Executive Director of the FBEI, Ataide is also a Professor of Entrepreneurship teaching entrepreneurship, small business management and contemporary management in both the undergraduate and MBA programs.

Ataide and his wife Ruth of 30 years reside in Point Loma, and travel regularly to Portugal and France in support of Christian efforts there. They have three grown children, Jesse, Rachel and Anna.

Research

Ataide's research centers on emerging issues in entrepreneurship, innovation, the theology of business and the future of business education. Ataide’s From Globalization to Globalrelation: Emerging Entrepreneurial Pedagogy was named “Best of the West” Presentation by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs Western Region Conference, San Diego, Ca. in November 2008; Additional Peer Reviewed Research Publications include A Thorny and Unresolved Issue: Are Religious Entrepreneurs Social Entrepreneurs? will be published in the Proceedings of the 2009 International Social Innovation Research Conference, Oxford University, UK, Palgrave-McMillan, in early 2011; If We Serve the god of Productivity is there Room for Jesus? Ellul’s Technique, Sacredness and Distortion in the Modern Farm Economy” in the Fall 2010 (#45) Ellul Forum; “Eruditio Ex Lawyers: A New Path Towards Trust and Excellence in Business Education, is in the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs August 2010 Annual Edition; “From Value Creation to Values Creation: The Entrepreneur Enrichment Program as a Christian Enhancement to Business Plan Competitions”, is in the The Christian Business Academy Review, Spring 2009, Vol. 4, Number 1.

Publications

Peer Reviewed Presentations and Papers include “The Un-MBA: Graduate Business Education in 2020” at the Christian Business Faculty Association Annual Conference in October 2010 (with Prof. Jose Munoz); “A Transformational Undertaking: Entrepreneurship and Economic Freedom” at The Prophetic Imagination Conference, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, Ca. March 2010; “Building Bridges to the Business Community.” Christian Business Faculty Association Annual Conference, John Brown University, Arkansas, October 2009, (With Dr. Bill Russell); “Deconstructing the Entrepreneurial Myth: An Alternative Pedagogy of Cooperation over Competition.” Western Association of Schools and Colleges Academic Resource Conference, Hollywood, Ca., April 2009.

Invited Lectures, Articles and Addresses (Selected) include “Entrepreneurs: Undertaking More than Business” in the Fall 2010 PLNU Viewpoint; “Leadership and Legacy” for The Center of Wealth and Legacy, University of San Diego, September 2011; “Defense Construction Spending: The Bridge to Sustainable Economic Recovery in Southern California,” at the Society of American Military Engineers Conference, Oceanside, Ca., June 2010; “L’entrepreneur aujourd’hui: évolution, défis et opportunités” (The Entrepreneur: Mind, Challenges and Future) for the Coherence Association of Paris, Paris, France, October 2009; “Entrepreneurial Pedagogy and The Organization of the Future: An Adaptation for the University of Phoenix” at the University of Phoenix Annual Meeting and Commencement, Phoenix, AZ., July 2009; and many others.